#291 – Jonathan Haidt: The Case Against Social Media Lex Fridman Podcast

Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist at NYU and author of The Coddling of the American Mind, The Righteous Mind, and The Happiness Hypothesis. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:

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EPISODE LINKS:

Jonathan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/JonHaidt

Jonathan's Website: https://jonathanhaidt.com

Documents & Articles:

1. Social Media and Political Dysfunction: A Collaborative Review: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vVAtMCQnz8WVxtSNQev_e1cGmY9rnY96ecYuAj6C548/edit

2. Teen Mental Health Testimony: https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Haidt%20Testimony.pdf

3. The Atlantic article: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/social-media-democracy-trust-babel/629369/

Books:

1. The Coddling of the American Mind (book): https://amzn.to/3MW4HqL

2. The Righteous Mind (book): https://amzn.to/3to0tkj

3. The Happiness Hypothesis (book): https://amzn.to/3Mb1xP2



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OUTLINE:

Here's the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

(00:00) - Introduction

(07:57) - Social media and mental health

(21:45) - Mark Zuckerberg

(31:23) - Children's use of social media

(42:08) - Social media and democracy

(58:14) - Elon Musk and Twitter

(1:14:45) - Anonymity on social media

(1:20:44) - Misinformation

(1:27:38) - Social media benefits

(1:30:22) - Political division on social media

(1:36:54) - Future of social media

(1:42:46) - Advice for young people